DAVE RESS
Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.
RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia should end a program that allows prison inmates to reduce their time behind bars for good behavior, because too many of those released go on to commit more crimes, Attorney General Jason Miyares said Tuesday.
Miyares said his review of individuals who left prison early under the state’s “enhanced earned sentence credit program” showed that 35.5% of the 7,193 inmates released early with enhanced earned sentence credits in fiscal year 2024 were re-arrested on other criminal charges within six months.
“When the numbers are clear, it means there also has to be a change. Too many elected officials have decided to use the law as a social experiment rather than as a shield,” he said.
“These are not statistics. Anybody that is in law enforcement will tell you, when you talk to the family members” who have lost loved ones or who have been victimized themselves, “one of their biggest fears is they’re just going to be seen as another number,” he said.
One case he cited was a man, Demond Williams, who was doing time for six felonies when he was released early, and then convicted of first degree murder in connection with the fatal May 2023 shooting of Chesterfield resident Ckristofer Tyler in Richmond.
The General Assembly enacted the enhanced earned sentenced credit program in 2020. It allows some inmates to earn early release if they participate in programs and don’t violate prison rules.
Inmates with low classifications can earn reductions of 15 days for every 30 days of good time, those with moderately higher classifications can earn 7.5 days for each 30 days. Higher classification inmates earn at slower rates, if they are eligible at all.
In 2022, a budget amendment from Gov. Glenn Youngkin barred implementation of the program but the General Assembly removed that language last year.
Miyares called on the General Assembly to end the program.
Advocates say the system encourages inmates to behave better and participate in rehabilitation efforts. Some experts in prison management say programs that offer inmates the chance to reduce their sentences can reduce violence behind bars.
“If the enhanced earned sentence credit program is so horrible, why is, according to the real time crime index, murder down 21.9% from last year,” said Shawn Weneta, an advocate for inmates’ rights with The Humanization Project.
Weneta noted that violent crimes generally are down 6.3% and property crimes down 10.2% according to the index, which tracks a real time crime reporting.
The Virginia Department of Corrections just reported the lowest recidivism rate in the nation and its own lowest rate ever under the credit program, Weneta said.
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